The people behind the Spruceridgeplay war table

Spruceridgeplay began as a group chat between friends who had been playing browser strategy games since the days of dial-up. We kept recommending the same handful of medieval empire games to newcomers, then watching them pick the wrong world, skip alliances and quit by week three. Eventually we decided to write down what we knew properly.

We are based in Canada and play on international English worlds, which means our alliances span every time zone and our reviewers are often defending villages while the rest of the household sleeps. That experience shapes what we value: games that reward cooperation, respect busy schedules and let a careful free player hold their own.

Every review on this site comes from weeks on a live world, with a fresh account, a seat in an alliance and enough time for beginner protection to lift and the map to turn hostile. We write about what happened to us, not what the marketing promised, and we update scores when games change.

We focus on one niche on purpose. Medieval empires and castle wars are a genre with a long history, devoted communities and very different games hiding behind similar screenshots. Covering six of them deeply serves readers better than skimming a hundred.